Inside the Rope with David Clark

Having an IRR of 26.4% across all transactions in property, Adam Murchie joins David on this episode of Inside the Rope. Adam is a specialist in funds management and investment and has worked in the property industry for 20 years. He and David discuss the strategies deployed by the team at Forza as they aim to provide investors with the best property investments possible based on their risk and return appetite. In this episode, Adam and David discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on property as an asset class as well as the future of office dynamics and work from home arrangements. Additionally, with COVID in mind, Adam highlights some of the successes Forza have had in periods of difficulty and explains their preference for 'messy' markets where he believes they are able to find good assets that are heavily discounted relative to their risk. Since inception to June 2020, Forza Capital has achieved an IRR on completed transactions of 26.4% net of all costs.

Delivering returns of 13.38% over the past 6 months (to May 2020), Daniel from Alceon chats with David. Daniel and David discuss the Alceon High Conviction Absolute Return Fund, and dig into how Daniel thinks about running the absolute return focused strategy. The fund, which takes a fundamental, research-driven, high conviction approach in a benchmark unaware fashion, has delivered returns of 13.38% over the past 6 months (to May 2020 and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic). Having run successful positions in NextDC (NXT), Wisr (WZR), Getswift (GSW) & Bingo Industries (BIN), Daniel outlines some of the approaches taken by the team at Alceon that have allowed them to capitalise on identified opportunities. Daniel also highlights the team's agility and readiness to make tactical changes as necessary -- and gives specific examples of each from recent years.

What makes for a quality government bond portfolio, and why should investors be attracted to them? In this episode, Charlie and David discuss the benefits of high-quality government bonds in what Jamieson Coote say can help defend and protect investors portfolios by providing income, liquidity and downside protection in a period of heightened volatility. Jamieson Coote Bonds managed approximately $5.25bn in assets before the COVID-19 Crisis whilst delivering returns of 7.64% over the last 12 months to April 2020 in its domestic fund. Referencing August of last year when Swiss government bonds were yielding minus 1.1%, yet the total return of the relevant index year to date at that time was 14.5%, Charlie highlights the potentially 'eye-watering' returns that can still present themselves while bond yields are negative.

Delivering returns whilst providing impact, Cullen joins David to discuss the Kilter Rural impact investments. Since 1993 Cullen has been working in the farmland and water management sector. While holding a strong grounding in active, hands-on land management, at a strategic level Cullen holds experience in the development of priorities for investment at both catchment and state levels in Victoria. Cullen went on to establish Kilter Rural in 2004 as a vehicle for investment in sustainably managed farmland and water assets. Kilter Rural is a specialist manager, dedicated to investment in Australian real assets of farmland, water and ecosystem services. The economic fundamentals of investing in these assets are underpinned by demand and supply of food and fibre to a growing world population.

Managing a credit portfolio across several asset-backed loans (and previously corporate loans), James and the team at Aquasia's enhanced credit fund have returned 6.76% p.a. since inception (October 2011). However March saw the fund have its first negative month, as the fear of COVID-19 saw credit spreads widen and valuations shift. As James highlights, this isn't necessarily a reflection on the assets themselves or an immediate decrease in quality, but more so the price that investors are willing to pay for assets. James and David discuss the differences between the COVID-19 pandemic and the Global Financial Crisis, with James highlighting the structural causes of the GFC against the temporary economic damages caused by COVID-19 and the global government interventions. James also explains the stimulus provided by governments to bridge the gap to an eventual COVID-19 solution, the impact of hardship on property prices and the flow-on effect to other asset prices.

Regal Small Companies fund has returned 18.4% p.a. (as at April 2020) since inception (Feb 2015). As part of the COVID-19 Special Episodes, David chats with Phil King of Regal Funds Management. Late last year when David last spoke with Phil, Phil believed that it was a great time to invest. However, throughout this episode, Phil argues that it's important investors change their portfolios as the facts change. Investors should constantly ask themselves, "Is my thesis still valid?", and as we have seen, Covid-19 has largely disrupted everyone's thesis. Despite the recent bounce in markets, Phil thinks that it will be a while before we see the true bull market return, however, he highlights the opportunities presenting themselves in the small to mid-cap space of Australian equities compared to the traditional high yielding value traps that many Australians have typically favoured.  Since inception (Feb 2015) the Regal Small Companies fund has returned 18.4% p.a. (as at April 2020).

How has COVID-19 affected property? In this episode, Chris and David discuss the impact of COVID-19 on property asset prices. Chris is a portfolio manager for the Quay Global Real Estate Fund. The fund itself has returned 11.7% p.a. since inception in July 2014 till March 2020. Post-March the global REIT market has not recovered to the same extent as global equities. Chris puts this down to the number of sectors within real estate that are socially driven. This includes Retail, Office/Commercial, Hotels and Hospitality. As these sectors see reduced activity from the impact of COVID-19, we are seeing overall REIT indices weighed down significantly when compared to equities. Chris and David also discuss the dislocation that has risen from the COVID crisis as a result of people working from home, leading businesses to renew their perceptions on such arrangements and the ongoing cost of office workspaces.

Magellan Global has returned 14.78% over 1 year to the 31st of March 2020. In what Hamish calls a classic Black Swan event, he and David discuss the recent impact of the COVID-19 pandemic across global financial markets. Initially presenting as a localized epidemic in China, COVID-19 has evolved into a global pandemic that has wreaked havoc on financial markets around the world. Despite there being no modern rule book on how to navigate investments during the pandemic, Magellan's Global Fund has held relatively strong. Hamish attributes this to a lower-risk portfolio that was built to withstand such unforeseen 'Black Swan' events and elaborates on the additional measures that the Magellan team have taken to further protect downside risks. By example, the Magellan Global Fund has increased cash levels from 6% to over 15% during March till now. Hamish remains cautious of events that may unfold over the coming months and discusses the key indicators that he believes are necessary to reduce financial market risks and allow investors to determine the shape of recovery that they can expect.

Alium Market Neutral returned 7.2% in March. Martin Rosser joins the podcast again to discuss how the Alium Market Neutral Fund has been able to generate positive returns during the COVID-19 pandemic. By identifying early market trends such as growth in the share price of "In-Home" businesses as events transpired in places such as Hong Kong, Martin and the team were able to make sensible investments before COVID-19's growth accelerated throughout Australia and the rest of the world. The team also shorted areas such as discretionary spending and travel which have provided additional levels of alpha and positive returns. During March 2020, the Alium Market Neutral fund was able to generate estimated returns of 7.2%, and targets returns of 10-15% p.a. throughout the cycle.

Adrian runs the Merricks Capital Partners Fund, a fund that provides senior asset secured debt to real estate, agriculture & occasionally infrastructure. The fund has provided investors with consistent returns of 12% p.a. net of fees (as at Feb 2020) with relatively low levels of volatility and an overall loan to value ratio of less than 60%. Throughout the episode, Adrian discusses the impact of COVID-19 including the fund's recent performance and uplift throughout March, which was amplified by the fund's hedge in credit default swaps. These swaps which were incorporated at a relatively low cost, have provided investors with downside protection against both economic meltdowns & liquidity crises. Adrian believes that these swaps will continue to provide protection should financial markets further deteriorate.